at OpenHelix

How much rat poison indeed…

It is somewhat serenditous in that I just completed the first draft of a tutorial that uses several genomic resources to look at the CYP2C9 gene variations and wafarin dosage, but a recent report in the NEJM looks at wafarin dosage from a combined clinical and pharmacogenetic data standpoint. As Daniel MacArthur at Genetic Future says,

“the real clinical benefits of widespread genetic screening will come first in pharmacogenomics – these results provide a neat demonstration of this process in action.”

And he also points to a nice tool the authors created for determining dosage based on CYP2C9 genotype and other indications. A taste of things to come.

Post navigation

One thought on “How much rat poison indeed…”

I was at a NCHPEG meeting a couple of years ago and someone was talking about the implications of genetic testing for warfarin dosage. He actually used it as an example of something that is likely to work. But he demonstrated that the infrastructure isn’t in place to test everyone who is on the drug. There aren’t enough CLIA labs with enough capacity to test everyone that’s on it. And that’s just one test–nevermind if others are coming along at the same time. Made me want to invest in testing companies….

It was a good talk–the slides might be available on the NCHPEG site. I’ll have a look. It altered the way I think about how fast we could actually roll this out.